Ladies first: Three local productions opening this week in Denver feature great women’s words and roles, showcasing a prize-winning contemporary playwright, the noir drama of Norma Desmond’s fall from the spotlight and the influence of literary light Jane Austen. Here’s where to here them roar:

And Toto too Theater Company

And Toto Too Theatre Company, The English BrideVintage Theatre April 29 through May 14 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, Fridays and SaturdaysTickets: $22 to $25 720-583-3975 And Toto Too commences its eleventh season of producing new plays by women playwrights with the regional premiere of Lucile Lichtblau’s acclaimed The English Bride. The plot reimagines the nonfictional particulars of the attempted bombing of an El-Al plane in 1986, when a Middle Eastern man secretly planted a bomb in his Irish fiancée’s suitcase. Looking for a deal? Tickets are only $15 on Cheap Date Night — Thursday, May 5.

Sunset BoulevardVintage Theatre April 29 through May 29 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays 2:30 p.m. SundaysTickets: $28 to $34 It ain’t the usual song and dance: Marcia Ragonetti and Vintage will channel Gloria Swanson channeling has-been silent-film star Norma Desmond, in a local production of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Sunset Boulevard. Directed by Craig A. Bond and Evgueni Mlodik and based on Billy Wilder’s 1950 noir, Sunset Boulevard comes out swinging with Broadway pizzazz, yet sticks close enough to the original script that you’ll get to re-remember all the best lines.

Stories on Stage, Welcome to AustenlandSu Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center 1:30 and 6:30 p.m. Sunday, May 1Tickets: $15 to $28 Jane Austen gets the Stories on Stage treatment on May Day in a series of dramatic readings featuring "Selections from Emma" with Jessica Austgen, "Among the Janeites” with Allison Watrous, and “What Would Austen Do?” with John Jurcheck, which touch on both Austen’s own words and her fans.

Denver native Susan Froyd studied English, Art and finally Journalism at Metro State University of Denver, and also managed movie theaters, sold art supplies and was a buyer in the stationery and greeting card industry, before landing at the weekly Denver newspaper Westword as Arts and Culture Editor in 1992. Twenty-two years of coverage later, she’s still at it and not over her love affair with Denver’s cultural scene. Not so much a critic as she is a cheerleader for the city’s fine- and performing-arts communities, Susan feels privileged to serve all the vibrant artists in all disciplines who make our town a more engaging place to live.